Overview

• The federally funded Elitenmonitor study reports that East Germans occupy 12.1% of leadership roles across 12 key sectors, up from 10.9% in 2018.
• Despite this increase, East Germans remain significantly underrepresented compared to their 19.4% share of Germany's population.
• Sectoral disparities persist: East Germans hold 21.4% of political leadership roles but only 4% in business and 6.8% in culture, with no representation in military leadership.
• At the current rate of progress, researchers estimate it would take 42 years to achieve parity in leadership representation.
• The new federal government, led by SPD, has pledged to increase East German representation in federal administration and other societal sectors.